OAKLAND, Calif. - Dwight Howard brushed off comments from Chandler Parsons on Tuesday that he believes the center will leave the Rockets as a free agent and should join the Dallas Mavericks.

Parsons will opt out of his Mavericks contract to be a free agent, an option Howard has with the Rockets. Parsons said if he re-signs with Dallas he would recruit Howard, as he did when Howard signed with the Rockets in 2013.

"Is he a prophet?" Howard said of Parsons' prediction that Howard will leave Houston. "Our focus is on this basketball game. It doesn't matter what anybody on the outside says. We are friends. We're close. None of that stuff matters right now. This is about this team right here, what we're trying to accomplish. Who cares what anybody else says."

Parsons said on April 6 he would consider returning to the Rockets if they pursued him as a free agent. Asked Tuesday if he would like to play with Howard again, he said "yeah, for sure."

"I think he still can be a great player in this league," Parsons said, "and I think if he's going to leave Houston. Why not come here?"

Beverley certainhe will play

Though Pat Beverley is listed as questionable to play in Game 5 on Wednesday and Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the guard's availability had not been determined, Beverley had no doubt.

"Feel good, ready to go tomorrow," Beverley said. "I went through the whole practice, a good practice. We're locked in and ready to get a win tomorrow."

Asked again if he would play, Beverley said, "Yes I will."

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Beverley is averaging 6.8 points on 28.1 percent shooting, but he is considered important as a defender on the perimeter and a potential catch-and-shoot threat.

"Happy to have him for Game 5," Harden said. "We're going to need him."

Curry's absenceno lock for upset

The series-ending injury to Stephen Curry might have been thought to have given the Rockets an opportunity to upset the Warriors, but they could not think of it that way.

The Rockets were blown out of Game 4 after Curry's sprained knee forced him out for at least two weeks. They have gone 1-2 against the Warriors this season in games that Curry has missed, not including the two losses in this series when he did not play in the second half.

"They're still champions over there," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "He didn't do it on his own."